Assessment of symptom clusters in people with cancer

The control, and ideally prevention, of symptoms such as pain, depression, and fatigue is dependent on a comprehen-sive clinical assessment. Furthermore, to advance the science of this field, symptom research requires the use of multidi-mensional instruments with proven validity and reliability in a cancer population across the lifespan. Studies demonstrate a significant correlation among pain, depression, fatigue, and other symptoms commonly seen throughout the course of cancer. Therefore, multidimensional scales incorporating the most common symptoms would ensure systematic assess-ment. Optimally, valid and reliable tools that measure symp-tom clusters would be feasible for use in both clinical and research settings. Currently available instruments that mea-sure symptom clusters include the Edmonton Symptom As